From Platts News Service, Singapore, June 21, 2018

Chinese independent refiners have slowed down their US crude purchases in recent months and could completely stop near-term imports amid growing uncertainties about additional import duties on US oil and gas.

The most recent US crude shipment for the independent sector was back in late March and no cargoes are expected to come in for the next several months, S&P Global Platts’ survey of independent refiners showed.

S&P Global Platts news feature: China-US trade war

“Independent refineries have no pending US crude cargo deliveries … we have not been interested in the barrels for several months now,” a Shandong-based refiner said.

“The uncertainty generated from the China-US trade war closes the door to the sector,” a Beijing-based crude oil trader said.

Beijing announced on June 16 that it was considering imposing a 25% import tariff on US crude oil in response to President Donald Trump’s similar decision on Chinese product imports.

The independent refineries sector imported about 578,000 mt of crude oil from the US so far this year, shared by Shandong-based Hongrun Petrochemical and Dongming Petrochemical.

Source: https://www.platts.com/latest-news/oil/singapore/analysis-chinas-independent-refineries-shy-away-27001176